In Odessa, on the territory of the plant “Pressmash”, the world’s first monument to Darth Vader was unveiled. The author of the monument is the local artist Alexander Milov.

The opening ceremony of the monument was attended by the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet himself. He was accompanied by Chewbacca and imperial stormtroopers. Photos by: dumskaya.net

Darth Vader in Odessa

Tags: Odessa city

The center of Ivano-Frankivsk is rich in various, differently decorated, cafes and restaurants. Some are decorated in the traditional rustic style, some even in the military or nationalistic style.

Usually, they have a lot of antiques, which makes them similar to restaurants in other cities in Eastern Europe. Let’s go to a restaurant called “Svitlytsya Muliarova” located at Chornovola Street, 5. Photos by: deletant.

The restaurant is decorated in the style of the late 19th – early 20th century. You are met by a wooden hanging rack at the entrance.

a very cozy place

Tags: Ivano-Frankivsk city · restaurants

Stryi is a small provincial town with a population of about 60 thousand people located in the Lviv region. The exact date of the town foundation is not known. It was first mentioned in 1385.

Today, Stryi is a major railway hub of western Ukraine, and, at the same time, it is a cozy and quiet town. Let’s go through the center of Stryi – the most picturesque part of the town. Photos by: Igor Golovach.

explore the town of Stryi

Tags: Stryi city

Pidhirtsi Castle, sponsored by the Polish Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski and built by Wilhelm Beauplan in 1635-1640, is a well-preserved Renaissance palace surrounded by fortifications. It is located in the east of the Lviv region, in the village of Pidhirtsi.

The castle has a square shape. From the east, south, and west it is surrounded by a deep moat and ramparts. The park, laid out around the castle, belongs to the monuments of landscape art of national importance. Pidhirtsi Castle on Google Maps. Photos by: alexdoomer2009.

take a walk around the castle

Tags: fortress · Lviv oblast

Let’s take a look at the central part of Lviv, known as the “capital” of Western Ukraine, from a bird’s eye view.

The historic center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lviv has the largest number of monuments of architecture in Ukraine. It is one of the most attractive cities for tourists in the country. Photos by: Oleg Stelmakh.

Rynok Square.

fly over the city

Tags: Lviv city

An elegant hunting castle-palace of the Counts Schonborn is located 10 km north-east of Mukachevo, in the Zakarpattia region.

In 1728, the Austrian Archbishop L.F. Schonborn received the vast land near Mukachevo as a gift from Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. The new owners chose a picturesque Beregvar tract for hunting and built a wooden hunting lodge. In 1890-1895, E.F. Schonborn built a beautiful stone castle-palace in its place.

explore the castle-palace

Tags: Mukachevo city · Zakarpattia oblast

The Ukrainian Carpathians is part of the Carpathian mountain system located in western Ukraine, on the territories of the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Chernivtsi regions. The total area of the mountains is more than 24 thousand sq. km.

Summer and winter are the most popular seasons to visit the Ukrainian Carpathians. However, in autumn, you can see a real riot of colors which makes the mountain scenery incredibly beautiful and picturesque. Photos by: Alexander Kotenko.

the mountains in autumn

Tags: landscapes · Zakarpattia oblast

Neo-Gothic Church of St. Clare, located on the shore of a small pond in Horodkivka (Zhytomyr region), can easily be mistaken for a tiny medieval castle.

This architecture is unusual for Central Ukraine – close intertwining of Romanesque and Gothic styles with a combination of natural stone with a red brick.

beautiful church

Tags: Zhitomir oblast

Svirzh Castle is a castle located in a small village of Svirzh in the Lviv region. It is a unique monument of defensive architecture of the 15th-17th centuries. The castle, originally built as a fortress, lost its original appearance after the reconstruction made in the 17th century.

Despite its favorable defensive location – on Mount Belz, surrounded by impassable swamps and lakes – the castle with moats and a drawbridge could hardly have any significant defensive value because of the palace style of its architecture.

take a look at the castle

Tags: Lviv oblast

Kozelets is an urban village with a population of about 8,300 people located in the Chernihiv region, on the banks of the Oster River, 67 km south of Chernihiv. The highway from Kyiv to Chernihiv passes through the village.

Here you can find several interesting monuments belonging to Ukrainian cultural heritage – churches, built in the 18th-19th centuries. Photos by: camrador.

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (1762-1763). It is a unique monument, which combines elements of Ukrainian and Rastrelli baroque.

beautiful churches

Tags: Chernigov oblast · Chernihiv city · church